


Someone to watch over me

by rachlovesligers



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 11:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3648135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachlovesligers/pseuds/rachlovesligers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve tries to distract himself while Peggy's on a mission, but he's there to take care of her when she returns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone to watch over me

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU where Bucky didn’t fall from the train and Steve was found in the ice only a year after he crashed. Now the two of them share an apartment in New York, and Peggy spends a lot of time there. Set during Agent Carter.

Steve had the vegetables sliced and ready to go, the potatoes were peeled, the fish still needed preparing but he’d put the corned beef in the oven 15 minutes ago. He’d also baked a lemon sponge cake for dessert and was about to prepare the cabbage salad when Bucky arrived back at the small apartment they shared.

“What the hell is all this?” Bucky asked.

“Baked corned beef with mustard sauce, fish fillets, veg and potatoes, and then lemon sponge cake for after,” Steve explained.

“Beef _and_ fish?”

“I might as well make use of my extra rations,” he replied.

Bucky walked over to the small kitchen area to get a better look. “Jesus Christ, Steve, I know you’ve got a huge appetite these days, but this is enough food to feed half of Brooklyn.”

Granted, there were hardly any visible countertops what with all the various types of food that were covering them, but half of Brooklyn was a bit of an exaggeration. “We can save some of it if we put it in the refrigerator, and anything that won’t fit in there I can take to the soup kitchen,” Steve turned back to the counter and started chopping the cabbage, avoiding Bucky’s scrutinising gaze.

“I suppose Peggy’s on a mission tonight then?” he concluded. Steve should have known he’d see through him right away, he never had been good at keeping things from Bucky.

“I just needed to take my mind off it,” he confessed.

“And you figured you’d do that by making a spread for fifty?”

Steve carried on chopping.

“She can handle herself, you know,” Bucky said quietly.

“I know,” Steve replied.

Bucky left the room as Steve prepared the cabbage salad while trying to figure out the best order the vegetables should be boiled in. As he chopped his mind kept returning to Peggy. She hadn’t told him much about what she was doing tonight, but he knew it required bringing more than one weapon. Every time his mind conjured up an image of Peggy being hurt, he’d force it down with memories of her punching smart-mouthed soldiers or shooting down Hydra agents. He carried on this back-and-forth in his mind as he chopped, until Bucky interrupted him with a shout.

“Steve!”

“Huh?” his head snapped up.

“You’re gonna chop the whole counter in half in a minute.”

Steve looked down at the chopping board and sure enough, there was already a deep crack from where he’d been slicing the cabbage with more strength than he’d realised.

“Oh, sorry”

Bucky just shrugged and left him to it.

..............

After they’d both eaten as much as they could possibly manage, Steve cleared away their plates and washed all the pots, pans and utensils he’d used, then proceeded to quickly clean the entire kitchen, worktops and floors. Bucky offered to help more than once, but after Steve’s refusals to take him up on his offers he left him to his distractions in peace.

By the time he’d run out of surfaces to clean it was 9:45pm and he still hadn’t heard from Peggy, so he decided to go for a run.

..............

Steve had run around the entire borough of Brooklyn before he decided to head home. It hadn’t taken him too long and he wasn’t all that tired, but he didn’t want to stay out too late in case Peggy called.

As he walked through the door he could hear Bucky talking to someone in a low voice. He thought perhaps he was on the phone or a neighbour had come over, until he heard a groan coming from what he was certain was a woman. Bucky had been known to have female friends over from time to time, but he usually gave Steve some kind of a warning. Before entering the living room Steve called out.

“Hey Buck, have you got a ‘friend’ over?”

“Yeah,” Bucky answered, “but she’s your ‘friend’.”

“What?”

“Just get in here,” Bucky called.

Steve entered the living room to see Bucky sitting on the floor next to the couch, leaning over a woman who was lying across it. He could only see the back of her head and it took him a moment to realise the woman had a huge gash in her side. Blood stained her light blue blouse which had been lifted up to reveal the wound, as Bucky dabbed at it with a cotton ball soaked with a familiar yellow liquid. Now that he noticed it, he didn’t know how he’d managed to miss the strong stench of iodine when he’d first walked through the door.

“What’s happened?” Steve asked, still confused, and that’s when the woman on the couch turned to look at him and it all clicked together.

“Hello Steve.”

“Peggy!” Steve rushed over to the couch and knelt down beside Bucky. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine Steve, it’s just a small knife wound, the mission didn’t go exactly as planned.” Peggy’s voice was calm but he could see in her face that she was in pain, she winced as Bucky dabbed at her wound with the cotton ball.

“Small knife wound my ass,” Bucky muttered, “this is probably gonna need stitches.”

“We should take you to the hospital,” Steve said, his worry increasing.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital, honestly. It’s not all that deep and Bucky can stitch me up here just fine.”

“But you could have internal bleeding, wouldn’t it be safer to just let a doctor take a look at it?”

“No Steve, I was undercover tonight and it wouldn’t help matters to have this injury on my medical records,” she said sternly.

“Don’t waste your breath, I’ve already tried to convince her, she’s just as stubborn as you,” Bucky added.

Steve knew better that to argue with Peggy, so he pushed his concerns aside and focused on taking care of her. “Have you taken anything for the pain?” he asked softly. She shook her head so he went to the bathroom to retrieve the small bottle, then knelt back down to hand it to her.

“You’re blocking my light,” Bucky told him.

Steve moved so he was behind Peggy’s head as she rested against the armrest, and began to gently smooth her hair away from her face. “I don’t suppose you can tell me how this happened?” he asked.

Peggy looked up at him apologetically, “I’m sorry my darling, it’s best you know as little as possible.”

Bucky had an intense look of concentration on his face as he begun on the stitches. Steve had been prepared to offer to do it but he’d never seen Bucky’s hands so steady, and he figured he’d probably be just as useful distracting Peggy in order to take her mind off the pain. As he watched Bucky work he noticed just how much blood stained her shirt.

“That’s a lot of blood for a wound that’s not very deep,” he said accusingly.

“Not all if it is my blood. And the wound may not be deep but it is long, the car was moving rather fast when he got me.”

“You were fighting in a car?”

“On a car,” Peggy replied matter-of-factly, “and it wasn’t a car it was a fire truck.”

Steve just stared at her, stunned. He felt a strange mixture of awe and concern, as he usually did when she told him about her missions.

Bucky just started laughing. “You two reckless idiots were made for each other! Fighting on top of moving vehicles, jumping out of planes without parachutes!”

“Was Jarvis with you?” Steve asked.

“Yes, and he gave me an earful about not going to the hospital as well, but I persuaded him I’d be better off coming here.”

Rather than question her further, Steve continued to smooth his fingers through Peggy’s hair as Bucky worked. With his other hand he cupped her cheek as his thumb stroked her cheekbone soothingly.

When Bucky had finished the stitches he inspected his work before he looked to Peggy. “Is that alright?”

Peggy glanced down, “Yes, you’ve done an excellent job, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Bucky said, waving away her compliment. “Are you in much pain?”

“It’s not terribly bad.”

Steve was trying his best to push the image of her fighting on top of a speeding fire truck out of his mind, as he leant down to kiss her gently on the forehead. “Can I come with you next time?” He asked softly, although he wasn’t holding out much hope.

“I’m sorry Steve but I don’t think you’re cut out for espionage, your face is far too recognisable.”

He nodded and continued to play with her hair.

“Yeah, that and you’re about as quiet as an elephant,” Bucky piped up.

“Hey, I can be quiet when I need to be, but this is a tiny apartment, I can’t help but knock things over from time to time,” Steve protested.

“This morning I woke up to the sound of our entire set of pans clattering across the kitchen floor,” Bucky directed at Peggy. “Claimed he was gonna make us pancakes, which I don’t remember ever seeing.”

“I got distracted.”

Peggy started laughing but it was cut off by a groan.

“I should get some bandages to cover that,” Bucky said as he stood.

Steve turned his attention back to Peggy, as he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead again.

“Aren’t you going to give me a real kiss?” she asked.

“Would you like one?”

“Yes”

Steve moved so he was at her side and leant down carefully to kiss her on the lips. He tried to be as gentle as possible, wary of her freshly stitched wound, but Peggy had other ideas. She leaned up towards him and deepened the kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth. His arm went under her shoulders, supporting her, his other hand cradling her cheek. Kissing Peggy was one of Steve’s favourite things to do. He always felt better when he was holding her, and the feel of her lips against his made his insides feel like jelly in a good way. Her smell was comforting and intoxicating at the same time, though it was mixed with the less welcoming smell of iodine. He loved the feel of her weight in his arms, and the feel of her hand at his neck pulling him closer sent a thrill through his body. He pulled away to murmur “I love you,” before immediately pressing his lips back to hers.

“For the love of God, Steve! Can’t you leave her alone for five minutes? She’s just been stabbed!” Bucky yelled.

They broke apart, grinning.

“She asked me to” he replied, and Bucky made an exasperated noise. Steve turned to Peggy, “Are you hungry?”

“Absolutely famished,” she replied.

“I’ll heat something up,” Bucky offered, chucking the bandages to Steve. “He cooked up a feast for half of New York this evening, we’ll be eating leftovers for the next month.”

Peggy looked reproachfully at Steve as Bucky left the room. He was sure she knew exactly why he’d felt the need to cook so much food.

“I just needed something to occupy my mind,” he muttered as he began wrapping the bandages around her. When he was finished he tied it with a little bow and lightly kissed the bandage, earning him a smile from Peggy.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked.

Peggy shook her head, “Just a little bruising.”

Steve pulled her shirt down to cover the bandage, now stiff with dried blood, and helped her into a sitting position.

“I’ll go get you a clean shirt” he offered, and went to his bedroom to retrieve one. He returned with one of his shirts, as well as all the blankets he could find in his room. He gently helped Peggy change and then began wrapping the blankets around her one at a time.

“Is there a forecast for snow in this apartment?” Peggy asked teasingly.

“I’m trying to make sure you’re comfortable, I don’t want you to go into shock.”

She rolled her eyes, “It was only a small stab wound, this seems a little excessive.”

“Just let me take care of you,” Steve pleaded. Peggy sighed and gave in.

Bucky returned with two plates full of leftovers and handed them each one, he’d gotten used to how much Steve could eat these days. As they ate Bucky turned the wireless on and it began to feel like an ordinary evening. Peggy and Steve spent an equal amount of time at each other’s apartments these days, Steve quite enjoyed finding new ways to sneak into the Griffith unseen by the omniscient Miss Fry, but when they were at Steve’s place they usually spent their evenings with Bucky, listening to the wireless, reading, or simply talking. Steve knew Bucky and Peggy had developed a closer friendship in the last few years and it made him extremely happy. But he was aware this friendship had developed while they’d provided each other with support and comfort during his time in the ice, something he didn’t like to dwell on. The thought of the amount of pain he had caused the two people he loved the most was something he tried to think of as little as possible.

When they’d finished eating Steve wrapped his arms around Peggy and she leaned in to him. He nuzzled her hair as her eyes drifted closed.

“Get a room,” Bucky muttered.

“We already have one,” Steve replied.

“Two, actually,” Peggy added.

“Then use them.”

Steve chuckled as he planted soft kisses across Peggy’s cheek. He knew Bucky was only teasing, after years of trying to set Steve up with someone Bucky was glad to finally see him happy.

Peggy turned to Bucky, “I can set you up with someone at the Griffith if you’d like?”

“Yeah because that worked out so well last time,” Bucky said sarcastically, referring to a disastrous evening that had ended in his date faking an emergency just to leave early.

“I’ll ask Angie to help me this time, she knows the girls much better than I do.”

“Thanks, but I’m alright. It’s much simpler dating these days now I don’t have to make sure every girl I see has a friend for Steve.”

“Hey! You never had to do that for me, not that I didn’t appreciate it, but I could’ve got my own dates if I’d wanted to,” Steve protested.

Bucky started laughing hysterically, “You were too damn terrified to even ask the waitress for your change.”

Peggy turned to look at Steve, his arms were still wrapped protectively around her, “he was brave enough to ask me on a date,” she said as she touched his cheek. Kindly leaving out the fact that it had taken him more than a year, and only after a few strong hints from her and a few of the commandos.

“It was a little easier once I knew I’d found the right partner,” he murmured in response. Peggy pulled his face towards hers and kissed him softly.

“Jesus that’s enough, I’m going to bed,” Bucky said as he got up and left the room.

..............

After Bucky had left Peggy and Steve sat curled up together for a little while, listening to the wireless. As Steve played with her hair he noticed a flush in Peggy’s cheeks, so he lightly put the back of his hand to her forehead.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Peggy looked at him, annoyance clear on her face.

“I’m checking to see if you have a temperature, you might have a fever.” He placed the back of his hand on her cheek. “You feel a little warm.”

“I’m warm because you’ve wrapped me up in five blankets.”

“It’s only three blankets,” he said, looking down.

Peggy shrugged off the top two and leaned back in to him. “You’ve no need to worry Steve.”

“I know, but I still do.”

Peggy put her hand to his cheek and leaned in to kiss him softly, his whole body was wrapped around her as he reciprocated the kiss. As they continued kissing he felt Peggy’s hand move to his shirt and she began to undo his buttons. He thought maybe she just wanted to touch him a little more, but she continued undoing buttons all the way down to his waist. Steve pulled away.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What do you think I’m doing?” she murmured, her voice low as she began to untuck his shirt.

“No,” Steve wrapped his hand around hers, “not while you’re hurt.”

She pulled her hand from his and placed in on his lower stomach, as she smoothed it up his torso he could already feel his resolve slipping, so he placed his hand over hers.

“If you over exert yourself the wound might reopen, and how are you gonna feel if I have to call Bucky in here to stitch you back up because we were fonduing?”

“I’ll live,” she smiled as she leant in to press kisses along his jawline.

“I’m serious,” Steve said, but he didn’t pull away from her kisses.

Peggy huffed and he heard her mutter “spoilsport” as she rested her head on his shoulder, he tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“We’ll make up for it when you’re healed,” he reassured her.

“I’m sure we will,” she grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think!  
> Feel free to suggest some more steggy ideas if you like my writing.
> 
> My tumblr is http://rachlovesligers.tumblr.com/ for anyone who's interested.


End file.
